Synergistic enhancement of the phytostabilization of a semiarid mine tailing by a combination of organic amendment and native microorganisms (Funneliformis mosseae and Bacillus cereus)

Abstract

The goal of this work was to evaluate the effects of fermented sugar beet residue and inoculation with a native arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Funneliformis mosseae (Nicol. and Gerd.) Gerd. and Trappe, or a native bacterium, Bacillus cereus Frankland & Frankland, alone or in combination, on the establishment of Lygeum spartum L. seedlings grown in a mine tailing under semiarid conditions. We conducted a field study to analyse root and shoot dry biomass, shoot nutrient contents, mycorrhization, plant nitrate reductase (NR) and acid phosphomonoesterase activities, soil enzyme activities and aggregate stability. Ten months after field transplanting, it was found that the three experimental factors had interacted synergistically with regard to shoot and root biomass, with increases of about 410% and 370%, respectively relative to plants in the untreated soil. The treatment combining all three factors increased the root content of all heavy metals, and the levels of nitrogen (N), phosphorus, potassium and NR activity in shoot tissues, whereas it decreased root acid phosphomonoesterase activity. Soil dehydrogenase, protease and β-glucosidase activities, total N content and aggregate stability were increased by the combined treatment. In conclusion, the combination of the organic amendment, the native AM fungus and the native bacterium can be regarded as a suitable tool for phytostabilization with L. spartum due to its ability to enhance the tolerance of plants to heavy metals, improve the plant nutritional status and increase the soil microbial function related to the C cycling.